Wednesday, October 24, 2007

What do you make a sick vegan?

The list is endless...miso soup, mushy carrots, toast and jam....ok, so maybe not endless. But there are choices. The trouble started on Sunday night...just not feeling so great. The rumbling was only made worse by the nut butter I ate for dinner on Monday night - not a smart idea, not a smart idea. By Monday night at around midnight I was done for. Up and down my steep ladder every hour. Yuck. My knees are still sore - despite the carpet in the bathroom (CARPET IN THE BATHROOM!!! Argh, as bad as the carpet in the kitchen).

I looked a fright on Tuesday morning, and no amount of cute-squirrel-hoodie power was going to get me through the day....and I flew via taxi as soon as prep began (I love you 2 45). My frigid apartment quickly became a desert paradise when my landlord came to fix the two mysterious heaters that can now "not be turned off until the ice has melted"....I am guessing that is in the spring some time?

The sofa and my book were my best friends, to be topped only by the loving embrace of Ready, Steady, Cook. Adrian, in his really campy-gay-but-I-straight voice walked me through some rather disappointingrecipes....but, hey, it was STILL ready, steady, cook.

The best part of my convalescence came with the searing sound of my downstairs buzzer. Enter Kevin avec a bottle of Canada Dry (thank you for the cultural sensitivity) and the ambition to cook me something to eat.

I realized that this was the first meal that was to be made for me since my arrival in Brussels, with my last one taking place at the end of July...thanks mom.

He had fear in his eyes, but commitment on his sleeve. He was going to tackle this like his grade 12s tackle his physic lessons - bright eyed, eager and full of enthusiasm.

The results were AMAZING.....just AMAZING. I was elated, and he was proud - but, he should have been...best vegan meal ever...even with my sick and sore body, I was all over that curry!!!

I have to try and share the recipe - the cook is welcome to add any comments relevant to what I may have missed out on.....the lime pickle is a total FOR SURE addition to this dish - it totally made it. Yummy. Thank you Thank you Thank you.

Kevin's Curry in a Hurry

What you need:

2 zucchinis (or courgettes...since a Brit made it..might as well use his language)

1.5 cans of chickpeas

1 bag of freshly washed spinach

1 bulb of garlic

1 leek - sliced, cleaned and diced

carrots (I think)

1 can of tomato sauce

curry spice

pepper

curry paste (he used red)

oil

What He Did:

1. Added oil to the wok and browned the chick peas and zucchinis.

2. He removed these two bits of yumminess to cook the curry sauce (how smart)

3. I am pretty sure that at this point he just threw together all of the other ingredients and let them simmer until his deep knowledge of kitchen physics told him that they were ready for the spinach and other, more toasty, ingredients.

I don't know what else to say. It was great. I ate it. I didn't throw up and it made me happy. I think that red wine or a nice beer might be a descent accompaniment to this dish...unless of course you happen to have a frosted bottle of Canada Dry handy.